SANOUII!^ARIA BLOODKOOT. 87 



plant. Nor is thr colored juice cliiinioteristic of the root only ; it occiu-h 

 in tlie leaves and ilowers as well. 



Habitat. — In rich, open woods from Canada to Florida and westward to 

 the Mississippi. Formerly very connnon, it is becoming rapidly scarcer, 

 and in the cultivated parts of the Atlantic States will ere long be consid- 

 ered comparatively rare. In the latitude of N(!\v York it blooms about 

 the middle of April, and, like many of our early l)loon ing plants, is of 

 short duration. I;i favorable localities the first blossoms are (piickly suc- 

 ceeded by myriads, so that the ground is almost white with them, jn-e- 

 senting a most charming aspect. , 



Fart Cffd. — The rhizome — United Sfatex Phannacofyocia. 



Constitnents. — Sanguinaria has a bitter, acrid taste, which persists for 

 some time, accompanied by a sensation of constriction and irritation in the 

 throat. This is most evident in the fresh rhizome, but does not disappear 

 from the dried drug, which in powder is exti'emely irritating to the res- 

 piratory tract if inhaled. These irritant properties appear to reside 

 mainly in an alkaloid, Hamjainarinu, which possesses them to an intense 

 d^'gree. This, when pure, is in white verru(!ose or needle-shaped crystals, 

 soluble in botli alcoliol and ether, and, with acids, forms salts of a bright 

 red color. Two other alkaloids and a peculiar acid have also been found 

 in the drug, but sanguinarina appears to bo the chief medicinal, as it is 

 the only connnercial, constituent. 



Pir.paralionx. — Acetuni sanguinariso — vinegar of sanguinaria ; extrac- 

 tum sanguiuariixj tluidum — thiid extrac^t of sanguinaria ; tinctura sangui- 

 naria; — tincture of sanguinaria. — ('iiilcd Statcti riuinnacopd'ia. 



Medical Propeiiieft and C-^ex. —In very small doses sanguinaria exerts a 

 tonic influence, promoting gastro-intestinal secretion iuid tlms aiding di- 

 gestion. It is sometimes employed in this manner in dyspcjjsia, with 

 asserted benefit. It is not, however, as a tonic that it exerts its greatest 

 influence, but as an expectorant in diseases of the resjnratory organs. 

 In these cases it is employed in much larger doses than when its tonio 

 effects are desired. In still larger doses it is emetic, and both too power- 

 ful and violent to be employed with safety. In over-doses it produces 

 excessive prostration, insensibility, irregularity and feebleness of the pulse, 

 and even fatal collapse. The dry powder is sometimes nsed as a sternuta- 

 tory in chronic nasid catarrh, and it Avas formerlv employed as a topical 

 application to ulcers to repress fungous granulations or to excite indolent 

 sores to greater and more healthy activity. 



That sanguinaria Avas formerly highly esteemed by the medical profes- 

 sion -inerally, will become evident to the reader of our past and even 

 present literature ; that it is comparatively little used here in tlie East now 

 is none the less apparent and true. Whether this is to be atti-ibute<l to a 

 mere change in therapeutic fashions or to a prefei'ence for exjiectoranta of 

 a milder character, is not easy to decide. At any rate, sanguinaria ap- 



